English trip-hop legends Massive Attack have come under scrutiny for political displays at their Singapore concert on Wednesday (July 29).
Footage shared widely on social media shows members Robert “3D” Del Naja and Grant “Daddy G” Marshall holding up a Palestine flag, at what appears to be the end of the concert.
The duo then walk off the stage with their backing band.
One post on Reddit also claimed that, during the show, “the lead singer basically said, ‘I don’t give a f***'” before performing a song where “a huge part of the crowd started chanting ‘Free Palestine’ over and over”.
“The way I understood it was that he didn’t care about any restrictions or consequences,” the Redditor added.
They tried to report the incident through the SGSecure app but claimed it crashed repeatedly.
A concertgoer, who wished to remain anonymous, told AsiaOne that the chants had started when 3D dedicated their set to the Palestinian people in the middle of the concert.
“The band didn’t join in [with chanting ‘Free Palestine’], as far as I could tell,” the 28-year-old added.
They also said that 3D “didn’t actually say he didn’t give a f***” or perform a song titled Free Palestine, as the Reddit post claims.
The band also commented on other conflicts, like the Russia-Ukraine war, US-Iran war and the Sudanese civil war during their set through footage and news articles being projected onto screens, and also criticised surveillance technology, the concertgoer told us.
However, they did not speak much to the audience or make many statements.
“Overall, they just presented stuff very matter-of-factly and starkly via projections,” said the concertgoer. “Then the audience reacted accordingly.”
Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Calvin Cheng posted on Facebook that Massive Attack’s actions are illegal and that police reports have been made against the band.
AsiaOne has reached out to the Singapore Police Force for more information.
Cheng pointed to a Ministry of Home Affairs advisory from November 2023 that stated in relation to the conflict in Gaza that “the public display of foreign national emblems without a permit” is an offence under the Foreign National Emblems (Control of Display) Act 1949.
In a now-deleted follow-up, he also added: “Put out an arrest warrant for Massive Attack band members. Ban them from Singapore.
“Arrest the organisers too.”
In response to AsiaOne’s queries, concert promoter Lushington Entertainments stated: “We are aware of reports regarding the Massive Attack concert last night at The Star Theatre.
“We will fully co-operate with the relevant authorities as required.”
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